On the go and no time to finish that story right now? Your News is the place for you to save content to read later from any device. Register with us and content you save will appear here so you can access them to read later.

"You never used to have to be a New Zealand citizen. But that changed at some point. I've had to give her the bad news," Mr Ofsoske said.

Mr Ofsoske placed a public notice in The Advocate yesterday advising electors "not to vote for this candidate". Any votes Ms Gill did receive would not be counted, he said.

"Her nomination form did tick she was a citizen. But there was misunderstanding, as she hadn't done that last final step. She was very disappointed, but unfortunately the legislation precluded her," Mr Ofsoske said.

Ms Gill could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Go-Whangarei leader David Blackley said her withdrawal was "immensely disappointing for the team".

"She's an awesome person," he said.

Ms Gill's withdrawal took the Go-Whangarei team from 13 candidates to 12. They were aiming to have at least 8 elected to obtain a majority in the 14-member chamber.